Evaporating or degasifying apparatus



April 15, 1930. c. E. LUCKE EVAPORATING OR DEEEASIFYING APPARATUS FiledAug. 5 1925 Patented Apr. 15, 1930 ,UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHARLESE. LUCKE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,

ASSIGNOR TO WORTHINGTON PUMP AND MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N.Y., A CORPORATION OF VIRGINIA.

EVAPORATING OR DEGASIFYING APPARATUS Application filed August 3, 1925.Serial No. 47,671.-

This invention relates to improvements in degasifying apparatus ada tedespecially for removing entrained air an gases from water for boiler orother use by evaporating a portion of the water, the especial object ofthe invention being to provide a simple, cheap and efficient degasifyingsystem which may be readily applied to condensers now in use, as well asincluded in new installations.

The apparatus may be used also with other liquids and as an evaporatingapparatus for other purposes.

In accordance with my invention, as applied in degasifying water, thewater is degasified in a single chamber and at a single operation byraising the water in a column so as to reduce the pressure towards thetop of the water column sufficiently to evaporate gradually the smallquantity of water necessary to remove the air and gases contained in thewater. The water preferably is heated before or during its passa ethrough the degasifier, and the chamber at idle top of the columnpreferably is a vacuum chamber. The degasified water preferably returns.vertically downward to the feed pump by which it is delivered to the,boiler or other ap aratus for use, so that the static head 0- the watercolumn is not lost. ,In condenser applications of my degasifyingapparatus, a closed system is used to prevent regasifying of thedegasified water, and all the condensate may be treated in thedegasifying apparatus, or only the make-up water. In either case a sur etank is used arranged to take care of the variations in the amount ofwater in the s stem and keep the pumps fully charged with water.

For a full understanding of the invention, I have shown for purpose ofillustration a com lete condenser and boiler feedsystem .em oying mydegasifying ap aratus and em odying all the features. .of t 'e inventionin a referred form, and this a paratus will now be describedin detail anthe features forming the invention then particularly pointed out in theclaims.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a iagrammatio elevation of a turbine andcondenser with a closed system' for degasifying and heating thecondensate for boiler feed, with all the condensate treated in thedegasifier;

Figure 2 is a partial view showing a modification in which only themake-up water is treated in the degasifier;

Figure 3 is a detail vertical section of the degasifier shown in Fi s. 1and 2.

Referrin now to t e drawings, A is a steam turbme, B a surface condenserreceiving the exhaust from the steam turbine through exhaust connection10, and from which condenser the condensate passes to hotwell 11, theair and gases being taken off from the condenser as usual throughconnection 12. The condensate'is shown as delivered from the hot-well 11by centrifugal pump 13 connected to hot-well 11 by pipe 14. It will beunderstood that all these parts may be of any suitable construction, andthe particular arrangement shown is'only for purpose of illustration. i

Referring now to the boiler feed system and degasifying apparatusapplied to the steam turbine and condenser shown and above referred to,the condensate is forced by pump 13 through pipe 15 to the bottom orinlet end of the degasifier C, and the upper chamber of the degasifieris connected by pipe 30 to carry off all vapors and gases from thedegasifier to the condenser and maintain the degasifier under thecondenser vacuum. A surge tank D is placed at a suitable elevation andconnected with pipe 15 by pipe 16 so'a's to permit the free flow ofwater upward and downward between the surge/ tank D and condensate pipe15. The location and capacity of the surge tank D is such as to takecare of all variations in,- system liquid, and to form a water column solong that the flow up or down through the pipe 16 does not exceed thevolume of that pipe and thus introduce air into by the level of waterinthe surge tank andthe float 18 connected to valve 1 on make-up waterpipe 17. The degasified condensate and inake-up water passes from thedegasifier C same as that shown in Fig. l and similarly lettered,except'that the condensate does not pass through the degasifier, butonly the make-up water, the condensate pipe 15 passing directly to theboiler feed pump 20, and the make-up water pipe 17 being connected tothe inlet of the de asifier in the same inanner as is the pipe 15 inFig. 1.

Referring now tothe construction of the degasifier as shown in sectionin Figure 3 in its preferred form, the degasifier consists of an innertube 26, which preferably, and as shown, expands upwardly forming ineffect a hollow cone which extends upward to the top vacuum chamberwhich is connected by pipe 30 to the condenser, and this expanding tube26 is open at the top and separated from the outer wall of thedegasifier C to form an annular chamber 27 which is enlarged to suchhorizontal dimension as to provide the 1 desired extended water surfacefor the espipe 17, is formed with a contracted portion or throat 2, andbelow and above this throat connection is made by pipes 3 to apressurecontrolled valve 4 operating to control a throttle valve 5 onsteam pi e 6, which steam pipe 6 enters tube 26 near t e lower end andbent upward to deliver heatin steam in line with the water flow so as toheat the water passing upward through tube 26 to the temperature desiredfor degasifying evaporas tion, the amount of steam supplied beingdependent upon the amount of water flowing to the degasifier andcontrolled by the pressure of the water flow, through throa t 2.

It will be seen that my degasifier or evaporator is of ve simple andcheap construction, and it wil be most efiicient in use, the wholesystem involvin but small expense and requiring no' comp icatedapparatus or parts outside of the degasifier except such as are standardequipment in condenser instalnear the boiling point for the pressure atthe point where the steam is admitted. The hot water then risesvertically and the absolute pressure thereby decreases until at the topof the column the pressure is reduced to that of the chamber 27.Evaporation takes place in the hot water by the gradual reduction ofpressure in the vertical column, and

the bubbles of air and other gases are given the maximum travel throughthe water, increasing in Volume toward the top. The height of the tube26 will be such as to secure the water column necessary for theevaporation required, the evaporation depending upon the height of thewater column, the temperature of the water, and the pressure in chamber27. All of the water returns vertically downward so that the static headof the column is not lost, but passes on to the suction of the feed pump20. While the water is preferabl heated by steam admitted under controlof t e water flow, the degasifier may be used with water having therequired temperature before admission to the degasifier, irrespective ofhow such temperature is obtained.

The top of the degasifier is preferably connected to the main condenserin condenser installations, as shown, for condensin the vapors from thedegasifier and maintaining the desired pressure in chamber 27, but itwill be understood that an other suitable arrangement may be used orhandling the vapors and maintaining the desired pressure and that thesewill be varied in accordance with the installations in which thedegasifier is used, and that other modifications in the de asifier andsystem may be made by those ski led in the art within the inventiondefined by the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A degasifier having a vertical tube with a receiving water inlet atthe lower end, a vapor and gas chamber at the upper end and into whichthe tube opens, means for carrying off the vapor and gas from saidchamber and maintaining a predetermined pressure therein, a steam inletfor supplying heating steam to the water column, and means forcontrolling the amount of steam supplied to the water column inaccordance with the water flow to the tube.

2. A de asifier having an upwardly expanding tu e with a water inlet atthe lower end, a vapor and gas chamber at the upper end into which thetube 0 ens, means for carrying off the vapor an gasfrom said chamber andmaintaining a predetermined p essure there n; a s eam in et fo pp y gheating steam to the water column, and means throat and means in saidpipe for controlling -for controlling the amount of steam supplied thesupplying of the heatlngagent in accordto the water column in accordancewith the ance with the Water flow through said throat.

water flow to the tube.

3. An evaporating apparatus having a vermy hand.

tical tube with a liquid inlet atthe lower end and a chamber at theupper end of the tube having a vapor and gas outlet, a steam inlet forsupplying heating steam to the water col-. umn, and means forcontrolling the amount of steam supplied to the water column inaccordance with thewater flow to the tube.

4. The combination with a condenser, of

a degasifying apparatus receiving the condensate from the condenser,comprising a vertical tube having its condensate inlet at the lower endand a chamber at the upper end of the tube having a vapour and gasoutlet, a steam inlet for supplying heating steam tothe condensatecolumn, means for controlling the amount of steam supplied to thecondensate column in accordance with the condensate flow to the tube.

5. The combination'with a condenser, of a degasifying apparatusreceiving the convdensate from the condenser, comprising a vertical tubehaving its condensate inlet at the lower end and a chamber at the upperend of the tube having a vapour and gas outlet, and a steam inlet forsupplying heating steam to the condensate column, means for controllingthe amount of steam supplied to the condensate column in accordance withthe condensate flow to the tube, and a downward discharge for thedegasified condensate from the chamber for recovering the head of thecondensate column in the tube.

6. A degasifier including an outer wall,.an inner tube extendingupwardly within the chamber formed by said outer wall and grad-- ua llyincreasin in cross-sectional area as it extends upwardl the outer wall,said outer wall forming an annular chamber about the inner tube throughwhich the ddgasified water overflows and having an enlargement formed atits lower end,

' means for heating the Water in the column within said inner tube, andmeans for controling the heating of the water in accordance with thewater flow to the tube.

7. A degasifier including an outer wall, an inner tube extendingupwardly within the chamber formed by said outer wall and graduallyincreasing in cross sectional area as it extends upwardly in the chamberformed by the outer wall, said outer wall forming an annular chamberabout the inner tube through which the degasified water overflows andhaving an enlargement formed at its lower end, said inner tube beingformed with a contracted throat near its lower inlet end, means forsupplying a heating agent to the water in the tube above said throat, apipe communicat ing with the tube and extending around said I y in thechamber formed by In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set

